SENVIC Social Enterprise Leaders Fellowship
The SENVIC Social Enterprise Leaders Fellowship is Australia’s first program designed to meet the unique leadership development needs of the social enterprise sector. SENVIC Fellows are selected based on a rigorous, transparent expression of interest process. Places in this prestigious program are allocated annually by geographical region and in response to other equity considerations. The program is based on peer knowledge exchange, reflective practice and experiential learning. The curriculum leverages global best practice in social enterprise learning which has been customised for the Victorian context by SENVIC’s delivery partner, Social Enterprise Academy Australia.
2021 SENVIC Fellows
Nicole Battle
CEO, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria
Read more:
Nicole is the CEO of Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and is also the current President of the Australian Neighbourhood House and Centres Association (ANHCA). Nicole holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Victoria University, as well as a Master of Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne. She has over ten years experience working in local government, holding senior roles within Community Development, Youth Services, Emergency Management and Governance. She has also held a number of positions within the not-for-profit sector, as well as being the current Chairperson of the Western Region Centre Against Sexual Assault.
Deborah Bogenhuber
Executive Officer, Food Next Door Co-op
Read more:
Deb is a co-founder and the Executive Officer of Food Next Door Co-op, a charity and social enterprise based in Mildura whose purpose is to connect landless farmers from migrant and refugee backgrounds with under-utilised land to grow diverse crops and to build a strong local food system. Deb is interested in participatory research that can help make the world a better place. She has worked extensively in freshwater ecology and co-developed a cultural science program that investigated ways to better manage our land and waters through western scientific methods and indigenous scientific methods working together. Deborah has over 15 years’ experience in community facilitation and activating volunteer organisations and is deeply involved and active in community development and transformational change.
Vicki Coltman
Executive Officer, Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre
Read more:
Vicki holds a B.Bus, MBA, GradDip Arts and is a graduate of the AICD. She volunteers with local community groups to help them improve their governance, build business capabilities and deliver strategic community outcomes. Vicki is the Executive Officer of the Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre and President of the CHANH Network. She has 10 years experience on local and national boards and is currently the Ballarat Red Shield Appeal Committee Independent Chair; and a director of the North Ballarat Football Club and Sports Club Boards.
Ben Foley
Head of Community Impact & Partnerships, Hume Bank
Read more:
Ben grew up in Albury-Wodonga and completed a Bachelor of Business (Enterprise Development) at Latrobe University. During his working career, Ben has held several senior roles with organisations such as the Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, NSW Business Chamber and CBA. His current role is Head of Community Impact & Partnerships at Hume Bank. He has extensive governance, stakeholder engagement, sales and strategic planning experience following numerous board and advisory council appointments and remains actively involved with several local organisations.
Sam Forbes
Founder,
Elbow Community Building
Read more:
Sam Forbes is the Founder and Principal Facilitator at Elbow Community Building in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Elbow is a social enterprise with the mission to ‘build healthier lives and promote wellbeing through community development’. Elbow works at the grassroots on social policy issues such as social connection and community resilience. Our customers are government, businesses and not-for-profits. Currently Elbow is working on preventing harm from gambling, positive ageing, as well as drought and bushfire recovery.
Pollyanna Gibson
Founder,
The Big Picture Space
Read more:
Passionate about empowering people and regenerating places through art and activism, Pollyanna has found strength is in linking ideas, connecting people and facilitating community arts to grow in regional areas. In 2017 she founded The Big Picture Space Inc., a not for profit organisation in Gippsland that creates pathways to education and resources for creative beasties. Born in 1989 in rural Victoria, PollyannaR spent the first 15 years of her life illiterate due to her severe dyslexia. At age 16, she started taking photos of all the wonderful, complicated and beautiful world she noticed in everyday life that she could never put a pen to paper to write about. Now she uses any mediums and platforms the work calls for.
Bek Happy
Numurkah Community Learning Centre
Read more:
Bek’s vision is to grow, nourish and regenerate our earth, its people and communities. She strives to break down barriers and advocate for equity and social justice. Leaning into her humanity, Bek holds energetic, innovative and creative spaces. Through meaningful connections, she empowers others with resourceful generosity and passionate sharing of her story, knowledge and skills. Bek is excited about the emergence of social enterprise and its capacity to deliver glorious transformation and social change.
Rohini Kappadath
General Manager,
Immigration Museum
Read more:
Rohini Kappadath is on the Executive Leadership Team at Museums Victoria, Australia’s largest public museum organisation, as General Manager of the Immigration Museum. She has been leading the transformation of Immigration Museum into a vibrant and contemporary cultural institution that harnesses Melbourne’s diversity and unites communities through shared stories of humanity and culture. Rohini brings three decades of professional and corporate experience across technology, professional services and the arts, and a number of non-executive roles reflecting her enduring commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion. With a deep commitment to growing social enterprise, Rohini contributes on the board of Free to Feed, Swinburne Innovation Precinct and other institutions committed to creating a thriving future for all.
Brad Keating
General Manager,
Social Enterprises at Diversitat
Read more:
Brad has a breadth of experience in executive roles, as a specialist project officer, coordinating and leading teams and in general management of diverse and multi-functioned services. Brad is a change facilitator, having worked extensively within not for profit, particularly in the disability and vulnerable youth sectors. He now turns his skillset to My Maintenance Crew, providing real work skills and employment to long term unemployed or at risk of long term unemployment.
Robbie Millar
Acting CEO,
Centre for Participation
Read more:
Robbie Millar has worked in the for purpose sector for over 18 years and is skilled in leadership, social enterprise, coaching, conflict resolution, public speaking and facilitation. Robbie is strong community and social services professional with Diploma’s in Business Governance, Vocational Education and Training, Training Design and Development and Business Management.
Cameron Price
Founder,
Social Enterprise Community
Read more:
Cameron’s passion is working with change-makers and social entrepreneurs to evaluate and increase the positive environmental and social impact of programs and for-purpose businesses. To achieve this, he convened Social Enterprise Community. Areas of professional interest include social entrepreneurship, impact investing, shared value, collective impact, design thinking, B Corp, Results Based Accountability, data visualisation, systems theory, public policy, public health and community development.
Nick Savaidis
Founder Director,
ETIKO
Read more:
Prior to establishing Etiko P/L in 2006 Nick Savaidis spent 5 years working on remote indigenous communities in Central Australia helping establish a number of social enterprises. Via his Etiko street fashion brand pioneered the idea of genuinely ethically made, ecofriendly clothing and footwear in Australia. A large part of what Etiko does also involves helping organisations big and small apply their social justice and sustainability values to the procurement of branded merchandise and uniforms.
Russell Shields
CEO & Founder,
The Community Grocer
Read more:
Russell is the Founder and Chair of The Community Grocer, a social enterprise that runs weekly affordable fresh food markets to support healthy connected communities. With a longstanding commitment to food justice and sustainability, Russell was part of the team that developed SecondBite from a good idea to a multimillion-dollar national leader in fresh food rescue, and also established and managed the Food Justice Truck social enterprise, a mobile fresh food market for people seeking asylum in Victoria run by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Alyson Skinner
Manager,
Venus Bay Community Centre
Read more:
Alyson is the Manager of the Venus Bay Community Centre, one of 400+ Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria. She represents the South Gippsland district with membership on a number of committees and boards including Neighbourhood Houses Gippsland and Koonwarra Village School and has strong ties with local council and networks across the Gippsland region.
Sam Sondhi
Chief Executive Officer,
Outlook
Read more:
Sam Sondhi is the CEO of Outlook (Vic) Inc. and a member of the Board of Management. Sam has ten years experience in Investment Banking working as a Vice President in the M&A and Capital Markets groups for Credit Suisse and Citigroup primarily based in Sydney. Sam has extensive experience in domestic and international capital markets and has advised some of Australia’s largest corporations on a range of acquisitions, divestments and capital raising initiatives. In addition, Sam spent over five years establishing and running his own investment company focussed on the Australian retail and wholesale sectors, which he has now divested. More recently, Sam served as Chief Operating Officer of international development NGO, Business for Development, based in Melbourne and as the Deputy CEO and Director of Strategy & Growth for Lentara UnitingCare. Sam holds a First Class Honours degree in Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales, Sydney.